Engineering
• Eskom is spending R8.9-billion on
power generation
• Sasol laid about 70km of piping in 2008
Several major engineering projects in different parts of the Free State have boosted the engineering sector. Preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup have delivered major upgrades of the main and secondary stadia, the province’s road network and the telecommunications infrastructure.
To tackle the R315-million Free State Stadium upgrade, four Free State-based construction companies (Ruwacon, Meyker Re Teng Construction, Ikaneng Developments and Promania 128) combined in a joint venture known as RMIP. More than 400 jobs were created for the duration of the project.
The size of Eskom’s pumped-storage scheme at Ingula also necessitated the creation of a consortium. Braamhoek Dams – comprising Concor Roads and Earthworks, WBHO Construction, Edwin Construction and Silver Rock – will build two dams just east of Van Reenen in the Little Drakensberg mountain range. An upper reservoir, in the Free State, will feed an underground power tunnel complex and power station, with a lower reservoir planned for KwaZulu-Natal. Ingula will generate 1 332 megawatts when it is fully operational in 2013. The R8.9-billion scheme requires a network of good roads, the contract for which has been awarded to Grinaker-LTA.
The Free State provincial administration allocated R982-million to road infrastructure alone in the 2008/09 financial year. One of the largest road-rehabilitation tasks was allocated to WSP SA Civil and Structural Engineers. The brief was to upgrade Route 59, the busy section of road between the Vaal River and the N1 in the Free State. New dual carriageways and bridge widening formed part of the brief.
Sasol’s polypropylene plant was the site of some complex engineering work in 2008, when Grinaker-LTA was contracted to execute two huge tasks: lay approximately 70km of underground and above-ground piping, and install electricity and instrumentation. Technip were the consulting engineers.
Training
Both major tertiary institutions in the Free
State train engineers. The University of the Free
State’s Department of Quantity Surveying and
Construction Management runs a specialised
agricultural-engineering programme, while the
Central University of Technology has schools of
civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.
The provincial government is supporting 134 bursary holders in fields such as civil and electrical engineering, and the Contractor Development Programme aims to mentor emerging contractors on civil works.
KEY CONTACTS
Central University of Technology:
www.cut.ac.za
Engineering Council South Africa:
www.ecsa.co.za
Institute for Industrial Engineering: South Africa:
www.saiie.co.za
South African Federation of Civil Engineering
Contractors: www.safcec.org.za
South African Institute of Chemical Engineers:
www.saiche.co.za
South African Institute of Civil Engineering:
www.civils.org.za
South African Institute of Electrical Engineers:
www.saiee.org.za
Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of
South Africa: www.seifsa.co.za
University of the Free State:
www.ufs.ac.za
